Meet our Guides
Adele McCann
Mountains are Adele’s second home. She has happily hiked and climbed all over South Africa, including in the Drakensberg and the Cederberg mountains. In other parts of Africa, she has done Kilimanjaro and Mt Kenya (Lenana). Other excursions have included a number of ‘14000’s’ (+- 4200 m) peaks in Colorado, USA and many climbs in Yosemite, California as well as in the Dolomites, Italy and Chamonix, France. She has also hiked in Bolivia, South America. Her international experience similarly includes rock climbing and canyoneering in the Blue Mountains, Australia.
Like Neil, she has in the past been involved with the management of local South African sports climbing competitions and competed successfully when younger.
She lives on the slopes of Cape Town’s Table Mountain, which she knows well and has explored extensively.
- Generic Site guiding qualification with the following skill:
- NQF Unit Standard 9288 Full Mountain Walking Guide, unlimited scope including off-trail, overnight and steep ground.
- Tourist Guide Registration number: WP 10483 Adventure Guide – Mountain walking guide – unrestricted.
- BSc Town Planning (Wits)
- Masters in Urban Design (Wits)
- First Aid level 1
Successful guiding of small groups on day and multi-day hikes in the Western Cape, South Africa.
Neil Margetts
Neil enjoys all forms of the sport: vast mountains with ice and snow, to big walls on trad, sport and bouldering. He has logged loads of climbs in many scenic spots around the globe. Neil has made significant contributions to climbing in South Africa in multiple ways in the last 40 years he has climbing.
In 2012 he was awarded the President’s Award for his contribution to the sport by the Mountain Club of South Africa (MCSA). He continues to share his skills with young and old through the South African Outdoor Academy, which he runs. He is renowned for his organisational skills that are of great benefit to the climbing community. These include negotiating the development of new crags, advancing these areas, as well as improving safety and access conditions at existing crags.
He has also been involved in the organisation of many climbing events and competitions designed to grow the sport and highlight up and coming talent. As co-founder of the South African National Climbing Federation (SANCF), the official climbing competition vehicle offering young SA climbers the opportunity to compete for their country and even get to the Olympics. He has had a hand in most major climbing activities in Gauteng and other parts of the country over the past 35 years.
- Generic Site Guiding qualification with the following skills
- NQF Unit Standard 9283 Abseil Guide up to 60m height
- NQF Unit Standard 9282 Abseil Guide up to 150m height.
- NQF Unit Standard 9286 Full Rock-Climbing Guide, multi-pitch trad with unlimited scope.
- NQF Unit Standard 9287 Full Canyoneering Guide, unlimited scope including multi-day canyons.
- NQF Unit Standard 9288 Full Mountain Walking Guide, unlimited scope including off-trail, overnight and steep ground.
- NQF Unit Standard 9287 Canyoning Guide
- Tourist Guide Registration number: GP5361, National including all provinces
- BSc Natural Sciences (Wits)
- HOD Post Graduate Teaching Diploma (Wits)
- Wilderness First Responder, First Aid Level 3
The SA Outdoor Academy facilitates training and assessment in many skills relating to Abseiling, Mountain Walking, Rock Climbing and Mountaineering, including:
- Youth Training
- Facilitating Competition Climbing
- Facilitating access to Climbing Venues
- Bolting and Equipping Climbing Venues
- Introducing Adults and Youth to Climbing and Mountain Walking
- Professional Guiding from Small Half Day Trips to Major Expeditions, over 300 trips successfully and safely completed.
Samuel Chowles
During his time as a high school science teacher, Samuel grew to love the outdoors. Seeing the potential benefits of adventure for personal development, he decided that becoming more involved with outdoor education was the next step in life.
He has since lead many ‘journey type’ hiking trips with school groups, predominantly in the wilderness areas surrounding Loskop dam. While not guiding trips, Samuel can often be found rock climbing in areas near his home base of Pretoria. Samuel enjoys helping others get the most out of their outdoor experiences and always looks forward to the next adventure. Samuel has extensive experience with Rock climbing, hiking and abseiling.
- Generic Site Guiding qualification with the following skills
- NQF Unit Standard 9283 Abseil Guide up to 60m height
- NQF Unit Standard 9284 Single Pitch Rock-Climbing Guide, including trad climbing.
- NQF Unit Standard 9288 Full Mountain Walking Guide, including off-trail, overnight and steep ground
- Tourist Guide Registration number: GP6039, National including all provinces
- NAUI scuba diving instructor
- BSc Chemistry (UP)
- PGCE, Post Graduate Certificate in Education (UNISA)
- First Aid Level 3
- Youth guiding for journey programs
- Youth guiding on president’s award hikes
- Responsible for the school rock-climbing club.
- SCUBA diving instructor
- High school Teaching 6 years